Best Places78617, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 78617, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
78617 ranks 21,048th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 78617
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
78617's strengths and weaknesses
Where 78617 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of zip codes
Where 78617 ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 78617
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 78617 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $73,105; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 78617's effective rate of 1.27%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 78617
78617 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 78617.
Who works in 78617, and how
Work in 78617 centers on construction and admin & support services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 78617
78617 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes and more parkland per resident than 80% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 78617 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 78617, month by month
78617 sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 56° |
| July | 99° | 85° | 74° |
| October | 86° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of 78617
Austin-Bergstrom International sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.7 million passengers in 2025, with 127 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 78617
Schools across 78617 average a D+, better than 12% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Bluebonnet ElD+ · 22% proficient
- Joseph Gilbert ElD · 18% proficient
- Creedmoor ElD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dailey MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Del Valle MiddleD · 21% proficient
- Cedar Creek IntD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Cedar Creek H SB− · 42% proficient
- Del Valle H SD+ · 25% proficient
- Del Valle Opportunity CtrF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 78617 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
78617 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 78617 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 78617 suits
Families
Schools land around the 12th percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 78617
Is 78617 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 78617 ranks 21,048th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on thin health care access and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 78617 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,922. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $73,105 median income, cost of living beats 58% of zip codes.
Is 78617 safe?
Yes, 78617 is safer than 69% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 78617?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 38. That works out to about 121 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of zip codes.
Is 78617 good for families?
Schools beat 12% of zip codes, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $1,020 a month.
Compare 78617 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 78617. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 78617 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
78617 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 78617: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 78617: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 78617: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 78617: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
78617 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.